This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7119 from an application for METHOD FOR DEBUGGING ERROR IN A COMPUTER SYSTEM earlier filed in the Korean Industrial Property Office on the 15th of Jul. 1997, and there duly assigned Ser. No. 32832/1997, a copy of which application is annexed hereto.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a computer system, and more particular, to a method for debugging an error found during interfacing a peripheral device to a computer system.
2. Related Art
In a computer system, several peripheral devices are interfaced to a central processing unit (CPU) of a computer system via a respective device driver and an interface bus. For example, a Digital Video Disk ROM (DVD-ROM) drive is connected to the CPU through a device driver and an interface bus, so that the DVD-ROM drive receives/sends data from/to the CPU. When the computer system outputs a command to the interface bus, the DVD-ROM drive performs the command instruction and outputs the result to the CPU. The number of commands which can be issued by the CPU to the DVD-ROM drive is typically more than 30.
When the computer system which has the DVD-ROM drive is assembled and the system performance test is carried out, an error may be found such that the CPU cannot access the DVD-ROM drive. Such an error may also occur during the operation of the computer system. One example of system testing of computer peripherals is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,837,764 for Programmable Apparatus And Method For Testing Computer Peripherals issued to Russello. A debugging module may be installed in the device driver, such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,764 for Method And System For System Debugging Through A Keyboard Device Driver issued to Mueller, for debugging and diagnostic purposes. An error which occurs during installation of a DVD-ROM drive may be debugged relatively easily if the test personnel or the user knows which command was issued by the CPU before the occurrence of the error.
One contemporary technique of identifying the command issued by the CPU before the occurrence of an error relates to the use of a spectrum analyzer or different types of test equipments. However, the use of a spectrum analyzer or test equipments for identifying the command which results in an error can be time-consuming and burdensome. In addition, if an error occurs while the user operates the computer system, the user cannot access the test equipment. Another contemporary technique for identifying the command issued by the CPU is by trial-and-error. According to this technique, the user manipulates the computer system so that the CPU issues an instruction to the device driver to watch the status of the computer system. If there is no problem in the computer system, the user manipulates the CPU to issue another instruction to the device driver. Such actions are carried out until an error occurs. However, this technique also has drawbacks in that too much time is required to identify the command before the error. Further, since there exist a plurality of commands applied by the device driver to the DVD-ROM drive for each instruction issued by the CPU to the device driver, it is difficult to identify the exact command which results in the error. Furthermore, the system may halt during the required repetitive steps, so that the user may have to restart the system several times until the test is completed.
Accordingly, it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a method for simply and effectively debugging an error during installation of a peripheral device in a computer system.
It is also an object to provide a method for simply and effectively identify and debugging an error occurring in connection with a peripheral device in a computer system having a central processing unit.
It is further an object to provide a method for debugging an error occurring while a device driver of a computer system recognizes a peripheral device.
These and other objects of the present invention can be achieved by a method for debugging an error during installation of a peripheral device such as a digital video disk ROM (DVD-ROM) in a computer system which comprises the steps of: storing a plurality of commands in a memory which are to be transferred from a device driver of a computer system to a peripheral device, via an interface bus, for checking status of the peripheral device; executing a plurality of commands while checking whether an error occurs, step-by-step, to identify a specific command which results in an error; and debugging the error in dependence upon the command which results in the error. As a result, an error occurring during the installation of the DVD-ROM drive in the computer system may be debugged simply and effectively.
The present invention is more specifically described in the following paragraphs by reference to the drawings attached only by way of example.